News Brief

The former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, yesterday endorsed a new report that explores how faith-based organisations may work more effectively across the religious divide.

The report is based on a unique collaboration between The Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths in Cambridge and Christian Aid.

Blair said: “The report shows that faith organisations have a unique reach because they represent, and are respected by, their faith community, giving extra credibility with local religious communities on the ground which can facilitate their work.” He was speaking at the launch of the Tony Blair Foundation Faith and Development Seminars in London on Monday.

Keeping Faith in Development draws on the experiences and lessons learned by Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and World Jewish Relief in their humanitarian and development work with people of other religions.

Such agencies are supported by religious leaders, setting them apart from their secular counterparts, the report says.

But they also have to face specific challenges and need to carefully manage the risks of appearing to represent one faith group. The baggage of historical memory, such as a history of persecution and forced conversion, may linger in a faith community’s collective memory, leading to suspicion towards another faith organisation.

The report recommends that faith-based charities promote awareness of the benefits of wide collaboration among faith-based charities and increase the number of collaborative projects on the ground. It also urges the establishment of advisory groups with representatives from different faith communities and multi-faith education programmes for staff in faith-based organisations.

Case histories within the report examine Christian Aid’s peace building work in Mindanao in the Philippines where there is a Christian majority and a Muslim and non-Muslim minority; Islamic Relief’s work during and after the civil war with Christians and Muslims in Southern Sudan and World Jewish Relief’s work with a local Muslim partner agency in Kashmir, Pakistan, after the earthquake.

Dr Ed Kessler, Director of the Woolf Institute, said: “Knowledge of and sensitivity to interfaith issues are vital in the delivery of humanitarian aid in the world today. By pooling the experience, leading religious charities will be better equipped to fulfil their goals.”

Christian Aid’s Inter-Community Initiatives Manager Nigel Varndell said: “We can only end world poverty by working with people who have faiths other than our own – so let’s do more of it, dispel the myths and share examples of best practice.”
The humanitarian charities featured in the report work with people of all religious beliefs and none, undertake no preaching and do not attempt religious conversion.